Last week, my co-worker Matt pointed out that Diebold voting software uses an unprotected spreadsheet to record votes. I almost mentioned it on Plans, but decided not to because I was afraid people would think I was being alarmist. Even though it was true.

Thanks to Chris underwhelm and others for making me realize that we have to talk about this stuff. Here's an article that contains a lot of other good links. Regardless of political persuasion, you've gotta admit that we need secure, verifiable voting. We need to know that we have it.

At first I thought it was an exaggeration to say that, but the more I think about it, the more I realize its truth. How can we address any other democratic issue if the thing that supposedly makes us a democracy is fucked up?

Sorry for all the self-commenting. I just can't stop thinking about this. I see that Black Box Voting's giving me a 509 right now, which is both exciting and shitty. Nutty idea: perhaps we can round up some people to host a mirror together?